Carolyn Ho, Phoebe Jones and others lobbying in support of Ho's son, an
officer who refused to go to Iraq.
(By Robert A. Reeder -- The Washington Post)

Carolyn Ho is a mother on
a mission.

She came to Washington
in mid-December to build support for her son, Army 1st Lt. Ehren Watada,
the first commissioned officer to refuse deployment to Iraq.

Barring some kind of miracle, he will be
court-martialed on Feb. 5 at Fort Lewis, about 45 miles south of
Seattle. If convicted, he could be sent to military prison for six
years. There's going to be a pretrial hearing today.

Like many Americans, she believed she
could come to the capital city and change the world. Or at least her
small part of it.

She was acting purely on instinct,
wanting to do everything in a mother's power to protect her son. "I'm
here to get what I can," said Ho, who is from Honolulu. Dark hair pulled
back. Dark eyes that moisten when she speaks of her son. Soft voice.
"I'm going to put it out there."

At the very least, she hoped for some
kind of letter of support before today's hearing. Late yesterday
afternoon, a letter arrived. After a lot of worry and work.

Lobbying Congress is no day at the spa.

During her Capitol Hill quest, she was
accompanied by several seasoned lobbyists, but they let her do the
talking. She moved along the halls, sitting down with staffers in the
offices of Sens. Patty Murray (D-Wash.) and Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) and
aides from the offices of Reps. Lynn Woolsey (D-Calif.), John Conyers
(D-Mich.) and Maxine Waters (D-Calif.).

In closed-door meetings, Ho told the same
story. She sees her efforts as part of a larger, multifaceted wave that
is challenging the Bush administration from every angle. At the same
time the president is advocating an increase in the number of soldiers
in Iraq, there is on the home front an increase in the number of vocal
opponents of the war. "I believe my son is part of this movement," Ho
said.

Phoebe Jones of Global Women's Strike, an
international antiwar network that supports Ho and Watada, was at Ho's
side on Capitol Hill. "The work of mothers is protecting life, beginning
with their children," Jones explained. "And that is really the opposite
of the obscenity of war."

On the Hill, Ho handed out information
packets. She passed around photos of Watada, who is taller, fuller of
face than his mother, but shares her smile.

Her son "based his decision on facts,"
she said. He studied the war in Iraq and decided it was illegal. He
tried to resign and leave the service with dignity, but the Army
wouldn't let him. He asked to be shipped to Afghanistan; his request was
denied. He was offered a noncombat position in Iraq; he said no thanks.

Because the United States entered the war
based on false premises, Ho said, the war is illegal. It is thus her
son's constitutional duty to disobey orders.

So she asked that members of Congress get
involved. She said that ideally she would prefer that the military
accept her son's resignation and dismiss all charges against him. "He
shouldn't be in a military prison," she said. His voice "will be totally
squelched."

She asked, "Just who is the criminal
here? The one who is refusing to participate in war crimes?"

From the Army's standpoint, the case is
simple. Tens of thousands of soldiers have passed through Fort Lewis on
their way to the war and have not asked for special treatment, said Army
spokesman Joe Piek. Watada, 28, signed on for military service in 2003
with full knowledge that he might have to fight an unpopular war, Piek
said. "This is a case about a soldier who refused orders to deploy to
Iraq. . . . That is the bottom line."

Watada has been charged with one count of
"missing movement," which means he did not board one of the planes that
were taking his 3rd Brigade to Kuwait on June 22. In Kuwait the
brigade's 4,000 soldiers received their equipment and their marching
orders.

He also is charged with "conduct
unbecoming an officer," for subsequent statements he made. For now he is
assigned to a special troops battalion and has been doing everyday
soldierly duties while awaiting his court appearance.

Piek said, "He joined the Army and swore
an oath, and that includes following the orders of the officers
appointed over him. His unit was placed in a stop-loss category, which
meant that everybody currently in that unit would deploy. You don't get
to pick and choose, especially if you are a junior officer, which places
you get to go to."

To Watada's attorney, Eric Seitz, the
situation is more complicated. "The United States talks out of both
sides of its mouth," he said. "We've prosecuted soldiers in other
countries for following orders to commit war crimes. But God forbid you
should use that refusal as a defense in this country."

The Watada defense: Questioning the war
publicly is not "conduct unbecoming" but an exercise of freedom of
speech. And he had the right to miss movement because he was refusing to
participate in what he deems an illicit enterprise.

To Carolyn Ho, congressional staffers
were polite and receptive. She came at an inopportune time, she was told
several times. Congress had adjourned for the holidays and there was not
much time before the court-martial.

There were flashes of hope: Along the
way, someone suggested that a "sign-on letter" sent by members of
Congress to the secretary of the Army might be a way to galvanize
support for Watada. Or a "dear colleague" letter that would alert others
in Congress to Watada's situation. One staffer brought up the idea of a
"private resolution," an arcane move in which Congress passes a bill
that affects one person. "Those are possibilities," Ho said. But as the
day wore on, fatigue showed on her face.

She left with little more than
encouragement and good wishes. A high school counselor, Ho had been on
leave since the end of September. She had to get back to work.

She is divorced. Her ex-husband, Bob
Watada, has also been out drumming up support, speaking to churches and
civic organizations around the country. She spent October and November
on the West Coast and much of December on the East. At one event she
shared a podium with Cindy Sheehan, who refers to the moms-against-bombs
instinct as "matriotism."

Ho went back to Hawaii for Christmas, but
is in the Seattle area this week for the hearing.

On the phone from Fort Lewis, Ehren
Watada explained how he decided while still in college -- in the
aftermath of 9/11 -- that he wanted to serve his country in the
military. He walked into a recruitment office in Honolulu and said he
wanted to go to officer candidate school. He failed the physical because
of childhood asthma. "I was heartbroken," he said. "I paid out of pocket
for a breathing test to prove I had no breathing problems. I passed the
test with flying colors and was eventually accepted at the end of March
2003."

Though Watada's father did not serve in
the military, several uncles were in World War II. One of his uncles was
killed in Korea. Another relative was in Vietnam. "There is a history of
service in our family," he said.

When he signed up, "I didn't know the
things I know today. I believed the military and the government when
they told me that Iraq posed an imminent threat."

Watada said it took him a couple of years
to realize that the United States should not be in Iraq. He submitted
his resignation in January 2006. "The commanders of my unit were not too
happy about it," he said. They were surprised, he said, because until
that point he had received positive evaluations.

"I can't stop the war," said Watada. "But
if Americans believe the war is wrong, they should be doing everything
they can to stop it."

His mother is doing what she can. "People
are stepping gingerly," she said yesterday about legislative action.
"There's a wait-and-see approach."

She was in Tacoma, Wash., yesterday for a
press conference when she received a personal letter from Rep. Maxine
Waters. Ho read an excerpt over the phone:

"The issue that [1st Lt. Ehren Watada]
has raised deserves to be publicly debated and considered. And I will
use my platform as a member of Congress and chair of the 'Out of Iraq'
caucus to highlight the failed policies of this administration and
stimulate discussion. . . . Your son has shown great integrity and
dignity in his objection to the war in Iraq, and I commend you for
working so hard on his behalf."